Cost of Jet Plane Ownership

The cost of jet plane ownership is large, huge. Even the most prosperous of individuals eventually wind-up selling their jets when their financial get hammered. Seemingly, only corporations can maintain private jet ownership for an extended period of time, but even there they are being scrutinized more than ever. Executive jets being seen as an extravagance by shareholders.

The Costs

The first and obvious cost to a private jet is the purchase price. With light jets starting around the four million dollar mark and going up from there, that make private aircraft some rarified air. Spending that kind of money for something that some may see as a toy or an extravagance is hard for outsiders to accept. That kind of cost also takes a lot of arguments to justify from a financial position.

But as some may be able to afford the purchase cost, the expenses are just starting. There are the typical costs associated with all aircraft like hangar fees and insurance. Then comes the special jet fees like a staff to pilot the jet, maintenance to service the aircraft, and possibly service staff while in flight. While a private airplane can be piloted by anyone with pilot's license, piloting a private jet takes more experience and usually only by professional pilots. Professional pilots do not come cheap, neither do the maintenance staff. Jets take specialized care and specialized fuel.

Ownership Options

The first and most obvious option to outright ownership is to charter. Chartering a jet can allow one to get where they need in comfort without the huge start-up costs. Although, charters can be relatively expensive in themselves, a single flight in a private aircraft can be readily justified by urgencies of the trip, number of passengers, time saved, etc. This is opposed to the ongoing costs of full ownership.

The hybrid option between jet ownership and jet charters is called fractional ownership. Fractional airplanes are planes where the many owners share the cost of ownership. With jets fractional ownership comes with many perks mainly the ability to fly the entire fleet instead being relegated to the one jet purchased and shared. There are still flight hours and fuels costs for trips, but these are per use fees and not ongoing fixed expenses. Giving the benefits of both private jet ownership while making the fiscal sense of a jet charter.